Maintaining weight loss a difficult battle

Monday

Nov 30, 2009 at 12:01 AMNov 30, 2009 at 7:37 AM

Losing weight and keeping it off is a challenge many people face. Veteran central Illinois broadcaster Bob Murray and Springfield physician David Steward epitomize this problem in their battles to maintain weight.

Dean Olsen

Veteran central Illinois broadcaster Bob Murray lost 170 pounds on a liquid diet and got down to 210 – his "perfect weight" – in 2002.

He maintained that weight for several months before beginning a slide into his old habits as a "volume eater" and food addict.

He switched jobs and worked a new schedule that didn't allow him to continue attending a weight-loss support group. After noticing he was gaining weight, he became self-conscious, and his daily workouts at the YMCA in his hometown of Decatur became less frequent.

Then, after Murray found that his new wardrobe didn't fit anymore, the floodgates to big portions and drive-through fast food swung wide open. And his motivation to exercise plunged.

"You think that you're doing OK, and suddenly the pants don't fit like they used to," he said. "Once you get the next-size pants, it's goodbye."

Murray, 62, is far from alone in his journey. Gaining and losing weight are common in the United States, where two-thirds of adults are either overweight or obese, and it's common knowledge that excess weight increases a person's risk of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and several forms of cancer.

Some people maintain weight loss

Maintaining a weight loss is not as uncommon as once thought. Studies from the early 1990s indicated that almost everyone who lost weight gained it back within a few years. But those studies may have been skewed because they focused on people who were the heaviest and sickest, according to a 1999 study in the International Journal of Obesity.

Authors of the study wrote that their nationwide survey of the general population found almost half of overweight adults who had intentionally lost 10 percent or more of their weight maintained the weight loss for at least a year. As many as 27 percent of them had kept the weight off for five years or more.

That still means a majority of people regained weight, but the study's authors wrote that they "reject the notion that weight loss maintenance is impossible."

Murray, who said he has gained back all the weight he lost – plus 30 pounds – said he would "love to lose weight, but like a lot of people who are overweight, I want to do it the easiest way possible."

David Steward doesn't have to be told how hard it is to maintain a weight loss. The Springfield resident, a physician specializing in general internal medicine at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, lost 60 pounds 4 1/2 years ago through healthier eating and regular exercise.

Steward, 59, credited exercise – primarily bicycling – for helping him keep the weight off. But he won't guarantee that he will continue to be successful, and he doesn't look down on people who end up regaining weight.

"I'm glad that it's lasted this long," he said "I'm always surprised that this is so hard."

What has worked

The Rhode Island-based National Weight Control Registry has studied the habits of successful weight losers since 1994. More than 6,000 Americans who have sustained a weight loss of 30 pounds or more have volunteered to be in the registry.

They lost weight with a variety of diets, and almost all increased their physical activity –

mostly through walking. The ways they kept from regaining weight were strikingly similar, according to Graham Thomas, a clinical psychologist and co-investigator at the not-for-profit registry.

Most of them tend to eat a low-fat, low-calorie diet, and most said they consume fewer than 2,000 calories a day, although they really may be eating more than that and underestimating their consumption, he said.

"They don't tend to splurge on weekends or holidays, either," he said.

There's not a lot of variety in their diets, which may help them keep track of calories through a limited number of "safe foods," Thomas said.

Most weigh themselves daily or, at minimum, once a week, and they exercise – a lot. The average was 60 minutes of moderate physical activity every day, which is what the Institute of Medicine recommends.

How do they find the time for all that huffing and puffing? They watch far less television – averaging 10 hours or less each week – compared with 28 hours for the average American adult, Thomas said.

"The average American is sedentary," said Anne Daly, a registered dietitian and director of a weight-management program operated through the office of Springfield endocrinologist Dr. Norman Soler.

And most jobs don't require heavy lifting, she said.

The average farmer in 1900 burned 5,000 calories a day, she said. "Today, farmers sit on a machine and push buttons," she said.

To be successful at maintaining weight loss, Daly said most people need to both eat less and exercise more.

Bob Murray's struggles

Murray, the voice behind the "Morning Newswatch" at Springfield radio station WTAX (1240 AM/107.5 FM), said he was successful at both sides of the weight-loss equation four times in his life, losing between 90 and 100 pounds in the 1980s before his biggest loss seven years ago.

That was when a 4,000-calories-a-week liquid diet, supervised through Soler's Health Management Resources weight-loss program, calmed his appetite and provided support and coaching, Murray said.

Though never very athletic, Murray felt more energetic as he lost weight – an average of two pounds a week – and walked a treadmill for 45 minutes most days.

Murray, who stands 6-foot-2, bought a whole new wardrobe and fielded questions from people who asked whether his shrinking body was the result of cancer.

But after he returned to solid food, he said he fell into a familiar pattern of feeling "cured" and relaxing his eating and exercise regimen. His switch from a daytime work schedule at WMAY-AM to a shift at WTAX that started at 1:30 a.m. coincided with his backsliding. But he didn't put the blame on his new job.

"It's not the shift; it's me," he said. "In my case, I have to concentrate on losing weight. I have to change my complete lifestyle."

Since gaining back the weight, Murray said he and his wife, Sandy, who has never had a weight problem, don't go to restaurants much anymore because he doesn't want to draw attention to himself. For the same reason, he said he doesn't eat when he makes personal appearances for his job.

"It gets you down," he said.

Murray doesn't go to the Y anymore and has a hard time mustering the motivation to exercise. "I have a great Schwinn Airdyne stationary bike at home that is a great clothes rack now," he said.

Daly said successful weight control usually is connected with accountability.

For Steward, it's his scale at home. "I weigh myself every day," he said.

Dr. Steward's success

Steward grew up in a small town in Iowa and was "always a little overweight," he said.

He played basketball and baseball for his high school teams and ran the 440-yard dash "slowly" for the small school's track team, he said.

His weight rose from 190 in high school to about 220 in college and fluctuated a bit during medical school at the University of Iowa, said Steward, who stands 5-foot-9. His maximum weight, in the mid-1980s, was between 240 and 250, he said.

His big weight loss began after he fell on slick pavement while riding his bicycle in Washington Park. His knees, which had been giving him trouble for years, were badly twisted.

The pain he felt while recovering from the fall made him realize that the excess weight he was carrying might make his knees wear out to the point that he would need orthopedic surgery within a few years.

Steward began exercising every day, something that his wife, Dr. Gina Kovach, had been doing already as part of her own strategy to stay fit.

Steward, who is chairman of SIU's internal medicine department, stopped snacking on candies, cookies and other junk food at work.

And when the weather is bad, he works out hard – 40 minutes to an hour most mornings, getting his heart rate to about 140 beats a minute – on a stationary recumbent bicycle in his basement. He has set up a television in front of the cycle to help pass the time.

"I keep telling myself I have to do this," he said. "There's no variety in it, but it's easy on my knees."

Steward said he is fortunate to have the income to afford exercise equipment, and the time and a stable schedule that allows for regular workouts.

He is quick to say that he doesn't always eat healthy foods, but when he snacks, he tries to make low-fat selections.